The house of cards continue to wobble but refuses to fall. Even after Trot's
heroic performance, our leadoff hitters are batting .228 with a .295 on-base
percentage for the season. As you know, this would be atrocious for a No. 9
hitter. But for a collection of leadoff hitters? And yet we keep on chugging
along, spitting and coughing to be sure, but chugging along nonetheless.

Every starter in our rotation has been injured, from the seemingly
insignificant split callous to the hugely-terrifying, world-changing,
breath-stopping rotator cuff inflammation. And yet we keep on chugging along.

Every guy in our lineup has had long stretches of looking awful at the plate,
though thankfully Doug Mirabelli had his with the Texas Rangers. Since
joining the Sox, in 89 at-bats, Mirabelli has hit .303 with an outstanding
.396 on-base percentage and an impressive .506 slugging percentage. And he
gunned down yet another runner last night as he continued to shape his
reputation as the second-best defensive catcher in the American League. And,
if that weren't enough, he's made two tags at the plate the last two nights,
one blocking the dish and one reaching out and bringing the ball back to the
runner. He's done it all. He just has to keep it up for one more month.
That's right, our No. 9 hitter has been our most consistent guy with the
stick. And yet we keep chugging along.

As for our most recent lineup of Everett, Bichette and O'Leary batting 4-5-6,
does any other team in baseball put three guys in those slots with 13 or fewer
home runs? No. And yet we keep chugging along.

The new manager smiles after grand slams. I like that. Smiling is allowed in
baseball, right? Unfortunately, he also seems prone to bizarre
decision-making, like putting D-Lew in left to finish last night's game
instead of putting him in right and O'Leary in left, or putting D-Lew in
center, Trot in right and O'Leary in left. Truth be told, I think he forgets
to do certain things, which is pretty inexcusable given how slowly the game
moves. Football coaches facing mass substitutions and a dwindling play clock
can be forgiven for oversights, but baseball managers should never be caught
off guard. You can literally run onto the field and call timeout any time you
want. You can even ask the umpires what you should do. I think Gene
Lamont should send the signs into the dugout from the third-base coach's box,
leaving Kerrigan with the easier task of ratifying the more-experienced
Lamont's decisions. Anyone noticed how good Lamont has been in the third-base
box this year? Maybe that's why Duquette didn't offer him the gig. We're in
a pennat race and we've got a a manager with zero experience. And yet we keep
chugging along.

I can't explain it, but as long as they're chugging along, we might as well
chug along with them. Sam Adams, anybody?

The “Curt’s Pitch
for ALS” program is a joint effort by Curt and Shonda Schilling, and The
ALS Association Mass Chapter to strike out Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Curt and Shonda
will be contributing $25,000 to The ALS Association Massachusetts
Chapter, and they are asking fans to contribute as well. All proceeds
will benefit research and patient services for those in Massachusetts
affected by the disease. Program participants will receive different
incentive prizes based on the dollar amount per strikeout that they
pledge.
Please
click here to learn more about the program.